The Social Security and National insurance Trust (SSNIT) has secured bench warrants for the arrest of directors and owners of 17 companies for defaulting in the deduction and payment of their employees’ social security contributions. The companies, all located in the Central and Western regions, are reported to be indebted to the tune of GHS 39,270.16 as at the end of December, 2012. The criminal action was necessitated by the fact that those employers had consistently failed to honour their social security obligations in spite of the numerous appeals to pay up the accumulated contributions and penalties. In an interview in Takoradi, the Area Manager of SSNIT in charge of the two regions, Mr Stephen Asamoah, explained that it appeared that some employers did not place premium on the payment of their employees’ social security contributions. “But since the National Pensions Act (Act 766) mandates us to take legal actions to retrieve the contributions and accrued penalties from recalcitrant employers, we shall do everything under the law to compel them to comply with their payment obligation,” he said. Mr Asamoah said an analysis of the debt profile of establishments in the Western and Central regions clearly pointed to a scenario where large-paying establishments were the major defaulters. The companies in the Western Region are Esther Preparatory School at Huni Valley, GHS 2,403.38; Filand Plant Hire Limited in Tarkwa GHS 5,496.85; Allied Oil Filling Station at Enchi, GHS 1,601.85 among others. Defaulters in the Central Region are the Mansfield Enterprise and Hammond’s Paradise Enterprise, both in Cape Coast, who owe GHS 657.60 and GHS 917.25 respectively, and other companies.